1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to knee pads and knee protection devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a knee pad device for both protecting the user's knees from injury and concurrently improving user stability when in a kneeled or knee support position, comprising means for communicating the users weight to a plurality of contact surfaces.
In addition to providing the knees a shield to impact and puncture injury, the device herein also includes a plurality of contact surfaces which are preferably co-planarly aligned. In use with these surfaces the device provides significantly improved stability by distributing the weight throughout the plurality of contact surfaces over a wide footprint. The invention also relates to a knee protective device employing means for shock absorbency for reducing fatigue by reducing the perceived weight communicated to the users knee as experienced by the user during prolonged knee supported positions. Additionally, the invention relates to the employment of slip resistance means with knee pad devices for reducing slip between the contact surfaces and the support surface for improving safety. Further, the device may be configured with removable engagement means for the various components to facilitate replacement as needed.
2. Prior Art
Knee pads and knee protection devices are a type of protective equipment which are typically worn around the leg at the knee, or strapped directly to the knee. Generally such devices provide some sort of knee protection and support depending on the venue of employment. In a sports venue, knee pads are conventionally worn to protect the athlete against impact injury related to a fall or side-strike by an opponent. In another example, in some extreme sports such as skateboarding and inline skating, knee pads are worn by the athletes to protect their knee from impact and abrasive injuries from ground contact after a fall. In another mode of use such as with construction, knee pads can be worn to provide padding to the skin and underlying bones during extending periods of kneeling, as well as protection form injury when kneeling in nail-laden construction sites.
For the latter, it is well known that construction workers and other labor professionals are often required to work on their knees for long periods. For example, workers who install floor coverings are often required to maintain a kneeling position for hours of time during the preparation and subsequent installation of a floor covering in a room. Maintaining this position while performing labor-intensive installation can be extremely uncomfortable.
Kneeling workers often experience knee injuries caused by maintaining such a position for prolonged periods. Further, users are additionally known to experience both back and neck injuries due to the user constantly straining to lean or work adjacently while concurrently trying to keep excess pressure off their knees and maintain a comfortable working position while on their knees. As such, many individuals who perform this work will wear some type of knee pad device which provides some padding to reduce the stresses on the skin and bones of their knees which is experienced during such prolonged periods of kneeling. As a result of being able to place more weight on padded knees, users tend to experience less back and neck pain since the support and comfort at their knees allows them to maintain an overall comfortable working position and more proper posture during extension.
However, currently available conventional knee pads and support devices intended to support the knee during extended periods of kneeling still fail significantly in many aspects. Many conventional knee pads and knee protection devices provide some type of support and protection when in a stationary kneeling position. However many do not take into account that the user may be constantly moving their upper body in differing leaning directions over the contact of their knees with the supporting surface while performing various tasks in the kneeled position. If a user leans or reaches for an item, lifts or moves items while kneeling, or shifts their upper body frequently, the weight distributed to each knee, and therefor to each knee pad in contact with a support surface, will change constantly. With conventional devices, this transfer of weight from one pad to the other can cause many problems.
First, many knee pads and related devices have substantially rounded exterior surfaces, since the pad as a whole is generally designed to conform with the natural curvature of the human knee when worn. In use, the curved exterior surface of the pad devices when in contact with a support surface provides only a single contact surface area per pad. Although some conventional devices are known to have flexible surface materials capable of slightly flattening during contact with the support surface, to slightly increase the surface area of contact, such pads have a substantially smooth plastic surface and still only a single contact surface area per pad is provided.
As such, many conventional knee pad devices are inherently unstable. The knee pad devices can rock and sway about the singular contact point and if the user leans too far in one direction the smooth surface of the conventional pads can slip in their frictional engagement with the support surface. The curved exterior surface makes it extremely difficult for the user to maintain a stable kneeling position as the pads will tend to rock along the curved and limited exterior contact surface area and will cause discomfort at the knee. This is especially true when the user's upper body is moving and the distribution of weight is constantly changing.
Further, in leaning to one side or the other, or if the user become slightly unbalanced for any reason, one or both knee pads may lift from their contact engagement with the support surface and one or both may possibly slip. This problem of sideways slip is enhanced if the support surface is slick or wet. Any such slipping instance can cause the user to fall, or drop an item and potentially cause injury to themself or others.
Still further, knee pads which are used on a daily basis often become worn and unusable after some time due to conventional wear and tear. This wear and tear especially includes the exterior surface, which is used for frictional and contact stability with the support surface, becoming worn or scratched to the point where the device cannot adequately engage a support surface without slipping. In addition, any padding or other support material may become worn such that the device is no longer comfortable in its engagement to the users knee. This conventionally results in the user discarding the worn knee pads and purchasing knew ones. Such actions are quite wasteful, since in most cases the structural body of the knee pad may be fully intact and suitably usable, while it is merely exterior surfaces or padding which are worn to render it unsafe and/or uncomfortable
As a result, there is a continuing unmet need for a knee pad device which provides improved stability, and improved slip resisting support to the user during use. Such a device should overcome the shortfalls in prior art and improve user stability by communicating the downward force of the users weight to a plurality of contact surfaces, as opposed to a single contact surface. Such a plurality of contact surfaces should advantageously should follow the curve or shape of the exterior of the knee pad to provide a planar or full contact footprint area of engagement with the support surface which eliminates rocking or swaying of the device when supported on the support surface. Such a device should employ one or a plurality of pad components to comfortably cushion the users knee when compressed by their weight toward the support surface. Such a knee pad device should employ means for shock absorbency for reducing user fatigue by reducing the perceived weight communicated to the users knee as experienced during prolonged knee support. Such a device should employ means for slip resistance for reducing slip between the contact surfaces and the support surface for improving safety. Further, such a device should be configured with means for removable engagement of the various components to facilitate easy replacement after they become worn, and thereby reduce the amount of such devices sent to landfills.
The forgoing examples of related art and limitation related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.